Sale of Land to Israel Threatens to Split Greek Orthodox Church

RAMALLAH – Israel’s bid to keep occupied East Jerusalem under its sovereignty
and prevent its incorporation into a future Palestinian state has been boosted
over the years with the acquiescence of the Greek Orthodox Church.

The church’s sale of politically sensitive land in East Jerusalem under dubious
circumstances and amid charges of political blackmail have caused outrage among
Greek Orthodox Palestinians and threatened to split the church.

In a bid to prevent Jerusalem’s division, Israel has accelerated its Judaization
of East Jerusalem, which, under international law, is part of the occupied
Palestinian West Bank and which Palestinians wish to see become the capital
of their future state.

Palestinians have been expelled from their homes to make way for Jewish settlers
whose settlement there has been politically and economically encouraged by
Israel.

Apart from social restrictions, Palestinians are regularly denied building
permits, and those who build anyway, due to chronic housing shortages, face
destruction of their homes by the Jerusalem municipality.

The crisis within the Palestinian Greek Orthodox Church came to a head on
Wednesday, the Orthodox Christmas Eve, when the patriarch of the church, Theophilos,
had to be escorted into Bethlehem’s Manger Square by Palestinian riot
police to attend celebrations.

Several hundred Palestinian protesters from the Council of Arab Orthodox Institutions
and Organizations in Palestine, representing 19 groups, booed his arrival and
waved placards that read: "The Holy Land Is Not for Sale or Lease."

A private car belonging to Theophilos’ entourage blared out Christmas music
to try and drown out the protesters. Earlier, bands had welcomed the arrival
of the Coptic Christian and the Syrian patriarchs with band music but packed
up and left in protest at Theophilos’ arrival.

Elias Isaid, leader of the Greek Orthodox Club of Beit Sahour, stated, "Today’s
demonstration is the start of our action against the patriarch.” He warned
that the patriarch could be declared persona non grata in Bethlehem if legitimate
grievances were not taken into consideration.

The Greek Orthodox Church is the biggest private owner of land in Jerusalem
and owns most of the land in the West Bank on which the Christian religious
sites, including the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem where Christians believe
Jesus was born, are built.

Much of this land was donated to it by Orthodox Christian Palestinians in
the late 1800s. Over the last few decades the church has increased land sales
to the Israeli authorities or leased land to them for a period of 999 years.

This has enabled Israel to build a number of large Israeli settlements in
the East Jerusalem area, creating a corridor with other West Bank settlements
and effectively cutting off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

But the church’s land sales have come against a background of corruption
allegations. Nicholas Papadimas, a previous church treasurer in Jerusalem,
was behind some of the sales before he fled the country and was charged in
Greece with stealing church funds in a separate case.

Theophilos, on being appointed the patriarch in 2005, replacing his discredited
predecessor, Patriarch Ireneos, had promised to stop selling Palestinian land.

Ireneos was accused of being behind secret land deals with two international
Jewish investor groups. An Israeli court ruled that his 2001 election was illegal
as it was helped by a convicted drug trafficker who discredited his rivals
by using homoerotic pictures.

But Israeli authorities have used the church’s corruption and financial
difficulties to their political advantage and applied additional political
pressure to ensure that the choice of patriarchs is beneficial to Israel’s
land acquisition policies.

According to the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, several years ago when Theophilos
was awaiting Israeli recognition the state demanded that the Greek Orthodox
patriarchy conduct a census of all church property in Israel and the Palestinian
territories and give Israel the first right of refusal on property up for sale
or lease.

Israel also demanded that some properties in the area of Jerusalem’s Jaffa
Gate "remain in the hands of the Israeli lessees." Theophilos’
lawyers were told Israel’s recognition of the patriarch was dependent
on those clauses being met.

One of the church’s Jerusalem properties was purchased with the involvement
of the Ateret Cohanim association, which is dedicated to buying Arab property
in Jerusalem and settling Jews there.

But controversy surrounds the Ateret Cohanim organization. Friends of Ateret
Cohanim, which is registered in the U.S. as an educational entity, sends millions
of dollars of tax-free donations to Israel every year for political purposes,
particularly buying Palestinian property in East Jerusalem.

Nearly 60 percent of Ateret Cohanim’s money, raised in the U.S., goes
into buying Palestinian land and property in the occupied territories.

American tax law bans tax-exempt organizations from any involvement in politics
or the promotion of political ideas.

Ateret Cohanim’s political agenda was not lost on Israel’s Peace Now (PN)
organization. Last year, PN organized a protest against a tour of Jerusalem
by pro-Israeli Republican candidate Mike Huckabee sponsored by Ateret Cohanim.

Huckabee’s reception party was held at the al-Quds Shepherd Hotel, which was
expropriated from its Palestinian residents to build new housing units for
Jewish settlers. The U.S. State department demanded that Ateret Cohanim cease
its plans to build apartments on the site.

"We believe that these moves will only breed more anger and distrust
among Arabs in the capital, and we see these attempts as nothing more than
a provocation meant to undermine the possibility of a future peace agreement
in the capital."